USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Wales > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 27
USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Monmouth > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 27
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"Gentlemen", said the doctor, turning to the plaintiff "for refusing to trust a man for bread for his starving family, I fine you one bushel of corn." Waiting a m110- ment for the murmur of surprise and satisfaction to sub- side, he continued, "John Welch, as a penalty for grind- ing a bushel of stolen corn, you shall grind this corn without charge, and add to it a half-bushel of wheat. Alphonso Chandler, for serving a warrant on William Hutchinson, I fine you two dollars and myself a like amount for sitting on this case."
"And you," said he, turning sharply to the prisoner and assuming his severest tone, "for stealing a bushel of corn from Blossom & Judkins, shall take this corn, wheat and money and carry it the entire distance to your home without changing it from your shoulder or stopping to rest."
The love of justice which he manifested on this occa- sion may, and may not, have been an index to his char- acter. He was impulsive, and somewhat visionary, and to this may, in a measure, be attributed his careless business habits. Soon after he became a trustee of
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Monmouth Academy, in which capacity he served many ycars as secretary of the board. He conceived the idea of instituting a school of languages and fine arts for young ladies. The upper part of the academy was an unfin- ished attic. He obtained a lease of this, and furnished it at his own expense. He then engaged the best teach- er of modern languages, drawing and painting and art needle-work that could be found in the state-Miss Hamlin, of Bangor, a sister of Hon. Hannibal Ham- lin-and advertised the school quite extensively as a department under the management of the regular board and faculty. The first termi was a failure. The to- tal attendance did not exceed three, and two of this number were members of his own family. The next term he tried again with a new teacher and less success. This ended the project. Considerable money had been expended to no purpose. The idea was not a bad one, it simply came out of season. Since then other schools have been founded on precisely the same basis and have proved successful. It wasan in novation, an original con- ception, which has found its way into nearly every fit- ting school in the land; and failure though it may have been in a financial aspect, the present age proves that the theory was sound and practical.
In 1829 he was appointed to plan and superintend the erection of the new court-house at Augusta. The convenience and good style of the building bear testi- miony to his skill as a designer, for which he is com- mended in North's History of Augusta. The following year he removed to Rockland (then East Thomaston), Maine, where he practiced medicine until he became so old and crippled with rheumatism that he could not vis-
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it liis patients.
In his last days the animosity he had held against religious truth faded from his heart, and he was led to a sincere repentance. He died, at Rockland, in October. 1860.
Dr. Cochrane was the father of fourteen children, all but one of whom reached maturity. Of the daugh- ters, Jane was the first, and Marietta the second, wife of Ivory F. Hovey, of Rockland, Me. Sarahı died in early womanhood; Eliza married Rev. Rufus Day, once pastor of the M. E. Church of Monmouth and father of Rev. James W. Day, late presiding elder in the East Maine Conference; Mary married Dr. Henry S. Dearborn; Ann, Isaiah A. Jones, of Rockland; Delia, Cyrus V. R. Boynton, son of Hugh Boynton, of Mon- mouth; Margaret married Emery Sawyer, of Brooks. She is the mother of Rev. J. E. C. Sawyer, of the New York Conference, whose name is familiar to every reader of Zion's Herald.
The sons were James, Lorenzo H. M., John C., Eras- tus Henry and George W. The latter was for several years General Western Agent of the New York Cen- tral R. R. He now resides in Rockland, Me. Erastus Henry married Hannah B. Ayer, of Freedom, Me., and established himself in business as a harness-maker at Rockland. He soon abandoned his trade, and after buy- ing out all the local fire and life insurance agencies, opened an underwriter's office. He has since devoted his entire attention to this business, and claims to be the oldest representative of the vocation in the state. He has held the office of secretary and treasurer of the M. E. church of Rockland for about forty years, and is
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chairman of the board of trustees. His only daughter married Rev. J. R. Baker of the East Maine conference, who is now associated in business with his father-in- law under the firm name of Cochrane, Baker and Cross. John married Susan M. Snowman, of Sedgwick, and established himself in the practice of law at Rock- land, where he served a long term of years as judge of the municipal court. He died in 1854 at the age of for- ty-four. Lorenzo H. M. went to Boston at an early age and engaged in journalismn. At the age of twenty- three he was retained as editor of "The Olive Branch", a Protestant journal, a position he held for many years. While engaged in this work, he occasionally preached, but was never settled as pastor of a church. He subsequently founded and edited "The Odd Fel- low," a publication devoted to the interests of the mys- tic craft, which he controlled many years, and for which he continued to write as long as his health per- mitted. In 1834 he opened a leather exchange in Bos- ton, and, later, engaged extensively in land specula- tions. Had he been contented with his journalistic ca- reer it would have proved far happier for his earthly prospects; but he had a mind which grasped large things, and he was not the only member of the family who has been carried beyond his depth by attempting to carry too many things at a time. In one of his spec- ulations he became owner of the entire tract that is now covered with the city of Melrose, Mass. Much of the land was then in a marshy state,and he expended a considerable sum in redeeming it and preparing it for house lots. He gave the township the name it still bears, and erected the first house within its bounds.
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Unfortunately he entered too largely into these specu- lative schemes, and lost, in a day, the large property that it had taken years to accumulate. His misfortune crushed him, and he died a heart-broken man. He was twice married; first to Sarah W. Hooper, of Ken- nebunk, Me., and second, to Frances A. Potter, of the same place.
Dr. James Cochrane, jun., to whom stands the credit of inaugurating a project which it has fallen to one of a later generation to complete, was born in Limerick, Maine, December 1, 1801. Being the first son, he received the name that the oldest son in the line had borne for many generations; and with the name a great many attentions that were denied the younger broth- ers and sisters. Very early in life he was driven to books, for which he soon developed a remarkable fond- ness. Although it seems incredible, it is stated that at the age of seven he began to study Latin,* and for his · precocity was wholly absolved from manual labor, and permitted to pursue his studies without interruption; his sisters being called upon even to black his boots and otherwise perform the duties of servants to him. A course more injurious to his future happiness and welfare could not have been arranged.
When a small boy he came with his father to Mon- mouth, where he found superior educational advantages. The free high school, which boasted an existence of a little more than half-a-dozen years, evolved, about 1810, into Monmouth Academy, an institution affording as complete a classical education as could be gained in
*As his father designed him from the day of his birth to be his successor in medical practice, it is to be presumed that he forced Latin upon him at an unusually early age.
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any of the college-preparatory schools of New England. Under such preceptors as Herrick, Weston, Davis and Jocelyn, he became a most assiduous student. His en- tire attention was devoted to his books, and, but for a remarkable constitution, his physical system must at this time have suffered havoc. To this severe strain may, perhaps, be attributed the irascibility which many who read this sketch will recall as one of his promi- nent characteristics.
After completing his education, he studied medicine with his father, and was graduated from the medical de- partment of Bowdoin College about the time he reached his majority. He immediately entered on the practice of his profession at Brooks, Me., and, a few months later, was married to his second cousin, Mrs. Eliza Cochrane McClure, the widow of Thomas McClure and daughter of Capt. James McClure, an officer of the Continental army. His union with this lady was the most fortunate circumstance of his life. She was descended from the same colony of Argyleshire emi- grants to which the doctor traced his lineage, was well educated, and possessed in a large measure the talent aud versatility which have, in a less marked degree, coursed in the veins of her cl.iloren.
Just as he was getting comfortably settled, and was beginning to overcome that lack of confidence with which a young physician is usually greeted, he heard of a good opening in the town of Lisbon. Like many of his name, he failed to recognize the value of persist- ency, and, although he was enjoying good prospects, chose to move to the new field rather than wait for their fulfillment.
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At the solicitation of his father, who wished to place his practice in his son's hands while he was superintend- ing the construction of the court-house, he returned to Monmouth. About two years later the old physician of Brooks died, and, in response to a call from the people of that village, he returned and remained there eight years. In 1849 he came back to Monmouth, and in the fall of 1852 erected the building now occupied by War- ren W. Plummer, where he resided until his decease in 1874.
Probably no man in town ever had more ardent friends, and, at the same time, more virulent enemies, than Dr. Cochrane. He was always ready to engage in anything that demanded an unequivocal position, and invariably took the side of the weaker party. He was a firm be- liever in the truth of revealed religion, and, at least twice during his career, publicly announced his inten- tion to live a religious life; but the quick temper, which as a youth he had not been taught to control, was a con- stant "thorn in the flesh" to which he yielded at the slightest provocation, without any apparent attempt to bring it into subjection. Although he seldom had the consistency to apply it to his own life, he professed faith in the efficacy of prayer. Mrs. L. P. Moody, of Winthrop, has recently related a remark of his made while attending her through a seemingly hopeless sick- ness. "I have prayed," he said, "over every dose of medicine that I have administered to you."
What his standing and success as a physician were, it is not becoming in one who knows little concerning his professional ability, except what has come through relatives and ardent friends, to state.
He had his ad-
James Eochran.
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mirers who were, perhaps, reckless in their confidence; and it would be surprising if he did not share the ex- perience of every other medical practitioner in having enemies who considered him a man of indifferent abili. ties. Perhaps the testimony of his son, Dr. C. A. Coch- rane, of Winthrop, who, although hostile to the school which he represented, has in recent years broken out in highest praise of his father's knowledge of materia medica and skill in compounding curative agents, is worth more than the expressed opinion of either friends or enemies. In the opinion of this possibly prejudiced judge there were few physicians of the last generation who could prepare such effective original remedies as his father. Had he been less rough and crude in his application of surgery, he probably would have taken high rank among the medical men of his day. Wheth- er his abilities were great or small,he never made the slightest attempt to give himself prominence in these lines. His aspirations were wholly turned toward the field of politics, in which they were never realized. A wealthy business-man once offered him a royalty of fif- ty per cent on the sale of proprietary medicines com- pounded from his original recipes. Had he taken ad- vantage of this opportunity, he would have stood an equal chance with other proprietors of patent medicines of becoming affluent; but he had not sufficient business perception to grasp the opportunity. As a business man he was entirely undeveloped. His books often went without being posted for weeks, and everything with which he was concerned was conducted in the most unsystematic and disorderly manner possible. Herein he differed widely from his wife, who possessed
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remarkable business tact, and had a system for every- thing. But if he was slack about everything else, le was scrupulously neat about his person. No matter how urgent the call, he never left the house to visit a patient until he had thoroughly brushed every thread of his clothing, blacked his boots and brushed his bald head until it blushed over its nudeness. Then he was ready to pronounce a man dead or alive as the case might be after the delay. If the call was from any distance, additional time was spent in grooming the sorrel pacer. No matter if a man was dying, the fav- orite mare could not have a strap placed on her until she had been curried, brushed and wiped with a woolen cloth, even if the entire operation had been performed on her glossy coat less than an hour before.
Dr. Cochrane was always a profound student of liis- tory, and was a writer of more than ordinary ability; but, as in everything else, his carelessness and lack of method were apparent in nearly every product of his pen. A few existing specimens of his carefully pre- pared compositions are remarkable for their clear, strong and incisive diction. In 1851 he prepared, and delivered in different parts of the town, a series of lect- ures on the early history of Monmouth. Although these lectures were written in his most careless, desul- tory style, they served well the purpose of entertaining a mixed company somewhat acquainted with the char- acters brought out in the series of reminiscencies, which was his only purpose in their preservation. But they went beyond this; for had it not been for the inter- est aroused by the perusal of these sheets, it is doubtful if a complete history of the town would ever have been
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written, and certain it is that but for their existence, so thorough a work would never have been compiled.
In 1874 the doctor was suddenly stricken with par- alysis. Gradually his mental faculties gave way un- til, at the very last, he failed to recognize his own chil- dren. He died Sep. 7, 1874. His wife survived several years after his decease. Up to the day of her death, which occured in her ninety-second year, her mind was as clear and her spirits as buoyant as those of a woman in the prime of life.
The fact that but for him whose career has been set forth in these paragraphs this history would never have been compiled is sufficient apology for devoting so much space to the biography of a man who was in no sense greater than many to whose memory shorter paragraphs have been written. I have endeavored to write an un- prejudiced outline of his character, and those who were best acquainted with him will, I think, acknowledge that it is nowhere overcolored.
Dr. Cochrane was the father of eight children, two of whom died at an early age. Those who survived him were Jamies Henry, John Edward, Silas Dinsmore, Char- les Albert, Granville Park, and Mary Eliza Annette.
The latter married A. A. Luce of Monmouth. Gran- ville Park was born, in Monmouth, Apr. 7, 1836. He fitted for college at Monmouth Academy, and at the opening of the civil war was just closing his university course. Without waiting for his diploma, which would shortly have been placed in his hands, he left his books at the first call for troops, and began to raise a conl- pany. His degrees were conferred after the close of the war as an honorary award. He enlisted as first lieu.
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tenant of Co. K., 7th Reg. Me. Vols., and was mustered into service Aug. 12, 1861. On the 25th of December following he was commissioned captain. At the battle of Antietam he received a serious wound. As soon as he was able to go on crutches he reentered the service as recruiting officer, and served during the year 1863 as Assistant Inspector General on the staff of Maj. Gar-
diner. On the organization of the First Regiment of Veteran Volunteers, he was placed in comanded of Co. E., but was shortly transferred to Co. K., which was composed largely of his old comrades. After the war he married Lena C. Wendenburg and settled in Augus- ta. He died at Monmouth in 1883, and was buried un- der the honors of Trinity Commandery, of which he was a member.
Charles Albert Cochrane was born in 1833. At the age of eighteen he began studying medicine with his father, and was graduated from the medical department of Bowdoin college in 1856. In the meantime he earn- ed his way by clerking for a local firm and keeping the books for a large manufacturing concern in Boston. At the age of twenty-two he was elected town clerk. The following year he took his final course of lectures at the medical school, and emerged grasping the roll that entitled him to practice the art which, in the hands of a tyro, is mightier than the sword.
Shortly after taking his degrees, while visiting a rel- ative, he formed the acquaintance of a well-known ho- meopathic physician who succeeded in interesting the somewhat prejudiced young doctor in the new school.
He investigated its principles, and being convinced that it possessed points of superiority over the time-
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honored theories into which he had been ingratiated, yielded to his convictions, and amid rancorous persecu- tion on the part of his disgusted parent, who had the happy faculty of placing the"little pill" advocates in a most ludicrous light, he began again the study of reine- dial agents. When he had familiarized himself with homeopathy, he possessed the advantage of thorough apprenticeship in both schools. In 1856 he formed a partnership with Dr. Henry Barrows of Vassalboro', Me., with whom he remained two years. In 1858 he settled in Winthrop, Me., where he now resides. The following year he was married to Caroline Augusta, daughter of Col. Rufus Marston, of Monmouth.
Dr. Cochrane was a member of the Massachusetts Homeopathic Society before a similar organization was instituted in this state, and has served as president and secretary of the Homeopathic Society of Maine. He has been a successful practitioner, and is frequently called to the eastern part of the state in cases of con- sultation.
Silas D. Cochrane was born in 1834. He enlisted in the government service during the civil war as escort to one of the emigrant trains that crossed the plains to the Pacific coast. Soon after his arrival, he secured a clerkship in the territorial government of Idaho, and, after some months, was called upon, on account of the removal of that functionary, to assume the duties of secretary of the territory. Civil government was at that time in a chaotic state throughout the nation, and doub- ly so in the territories, to which little attention was paid by the officials at Washington while their atten-
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tion was riveted to the more important military opera- tions in the south. The unprincipled governor of Ida- ho seized upon the opportunity afforded by this relaxa- tion of vigilance to intercept the appropriations intend- ed for the support of the territorial government, and absconded with several thousand dollars. Mr. Coch_ rane had already received the recognition of the nation- al government as acting secretary, and now he was called upon to assume the duties of governor of the ter. ritory. The executive at Washington could not legally appoint a new governor until matters had been thor- oughly investigated, and in the face of the pressure of more important issues, this was long delayed. For many months he continued to discharge the duties of both governor and secretary without receiving a dollar for his services. At last he laid down the seal and took to the mines to secure a livelihood. He was not success- ful in his mining operations, and after ten years' ab- sence returned to Maine. He soon repaired to Waslı- ington, introduced a bill to Congress, and secured emol- ument for his official services in Idaho territory to the extent of nearly three thousand dollars. He remained in Washington as clerk in one of the departments un- til his decease in 1888. He was twice married; first, to Sarah Hudson, of Lowell, Mass .; second, to Martha C. Blaisdell, of Monmouth.
John Edward Cochrane was born Apr 29, 1831. He was for a short time engaged in manufacturing mahog- any and rosewood knobs and fancy turned ware at North Monmouth, and afterward made ladies' boots and slippers for the trade. He was appointed postmaster at the Center in 1861, and the next year removed to a
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farm in Aroostook county. His home is now in Cali- fornia. He married Margaret A., the daughter of Dr. Asa Heath, and aunt of Hon. H. M. Heath, of Augusta.
Their children, although reared in the very heart of the Maine wilderness, have all succeeded by diligent ap- plication in securing an education. One of them who had attended school only seventeen weeks during his entire boyhood entered Coburn Classical Institute one year in advance of the regular course. Two, Rev. Hen- ry P. and Rev. Willis W., are now missionaries in Bur- mah; another, Rev. James E., has served a term as mis- sionary in the same country, and is now pastor of the Baptist church in Hallowell; Dr. Clarendon T. died from the effects of overwork a few weeks after receiving his diploma from the Hahnemann Medical College, of Chicago; Werter W. is a contractor in California and Charles Albert is engineer in a silver mine in Park City, Utah.
James Henry, the oldest son of Dr. James Cochrane, jun., inherited his mother's artistic talent. He prac- ticed without an instructor and succeeded in establish- ing a reputation that brought him orders for life sit- tings from some of the wealthiest families of Belfast,
Me., where he was then residing. At an early age, he started for Italy to complete his education in art, but, unfortunately, when he reached Boston he was offered a remunerative position, which led him to temporarily abandon his plans. Soon after, he opened a studio in Boston, and advertised as a fresco artist. The process of making pictures by the action of light on a sensitized silver plate had just been perfected, and men were making money rapidly with daguerreotype outfits.
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The visions of gold looked more attractive than famne, and the brush was laid aside forever. Shortly after he established himself in the daguerreotype business in Maine, he was offered a position at the state capitol as engrossing clerk. He was soon raised to the office of deputy secretary of state, a position which he held un- til 1866, when he was appointed Superintendent of Con- struction of Government Buildings, in which office he was retained until the change in administration which took place about twenty years later. Specimens of his early designing may be found in the engraved title of the Maine Farmer which is still in use, and in the elab- orate diploma used for many years by the Maine State Agricultural Society.
Mr. Cochrane was once nominated for the office of Secretary of State, and was defeated by the . misapplied zeal of some of his political friends, who, the morning before the election, published in the Kennebec Journal scurrilous statements concerning his opponent that were obviously false. He married, first, Ellen M. Ber- ry, daughter of Col. Watson Berry, of Belfast, Me., by whom he had three children-Nellie H., Flora G., and Harry H., and, second, Julia A. Allen, of Augusta, by whom he had four, only one of whom, Herbert Lep- pien, is now living.
Thomas and William Richardson and their wives came from Standish, Me. in 1861 and purchased in one lot the farms at North Monmouth now owned by Mil- lard Richardson and the Bishop heirs. They lived in the Bishop house until 1809, when Thomas built the house in which his grandson Millard now resides They were the children of David Richardson, who re-
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moved from Newton, Mass. to Standish, Me. in 1778, and thence, in 1807, to Monmouth, where he died in 1825. He was twice married, and at the time of his de- cease boasted eighty living descendants. His second wife, the mother of Thomas and William, was blessed with three pairs of twins within the space of three-and- one-half years; and less than two years later her lone- liness was relieved by the birth of a seventh child.
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